''Animal Armageddon'' is a 2009 SpeculativeDocumentary series that aired on ''AnimalPlanet''. Each episode (there are eight in total, although the DVD only includes the first four) focuses on a different extinction event in Earth's history (although there are two episodes about the end of the Cretaceous, because, you know, [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]]). The basic plot is that several creatures are shown before the extinction occurs, and that only a few of those shown will survive the extinction event. It also features cutaway scenes of paleontologists talking about the extinctions and apocalyptic quotes from Literature/TheBible and other sources.

----!!Provides Examples Of:

* AlwaysABiggerFish: After killing a juvenile [[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs hadrosaur]], two ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' are driven from their kill by a ''[[TyrannosaurusRex Tyrannosaurus]]''.* AnachronismStew: It's played straight, but only true paleobuffs will notice it.** More noticeable in "The Great Dying", which somehow put the crocodile-like ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Proterosuchus]]'' and the mammal ancestor ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Thrinaxodon]]'' in the Permian, while they are known only from the later Triassic.** What's ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifePrimitiveSaurischians Staurikosaurus]]'' doing at the very end of the Triassic?** ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Gigantopithecus]]'' 74,000 years ago. It went extinct a good 300,000 years ago.* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Subverted. Hey, ''any'' species will commit cannibalism in the face of extinction.* ApocalypseHow: The basic premise of the series. Generally, the scope is planetary, along with major species extinction. A future with societal disruption or societal collapse is implied, with regards to humanity.** ApocalypseWow* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Their tears might prevent them from getting a clear view at those awful [[ComputerGeneratedImages CGI critters]]. To list some problems besides their hideousness:** Naked [[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs raptors and troodonts]]. The raptors do have some feathers, but not ''nearly'' enough.** Elephant-legged [[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs ceratopsians and sauropods]], as well as incorrect hand posture on the carnivorous dinosaurs.** Sauropods with their nostrils on the top of their head. A widespread image, but science shows it's wrong.** And "''Phobosuchus''" should be called ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Deinosuchus]]'', and it went extinct noticeably before the end of the Cretaceous.** Not to mention ''a 20-ton [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs mosasaur]]?!?'' ** ''And a '''20,000-ton [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Dunkleosteus]]??!!??'''''*** Perhaps they meant 20,000 ''pound''?* BigCreepyCrawlies: [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Sea scorpions]] in the first episode and the giant (1-foot-long) cockroaches in the last episode.* CameraAbuse: When the [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles gorgonopsian]] kills a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]'', the camera is splattered with blood.* ConspicuousCGI: Everything looks really cheaply made, which may explain the incredibly bland backgrounds and lack of feathers on most of the dinosaurs.* CrapsackWorld: Goes hand in hand with the extinction events.* DownerEnding: A given, seeing that ApocalypseHow is the main point of the series.* EarnYourHappyEnding: The survivors of the extinction.* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Three of the episodes feature these great reptiles, with cameo appearances in the eighth episode.* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Gigantopithecus]]'' [[AnachronismStew 226,000 years after they went extinct]].* EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks: They survived the Cretaceous extinction event.* EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods: [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Nautiloids and ammonites]].* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Quite a number, but the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]'' and young [[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs hadrosaur]] stand out. In the first case, a [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles gorgonopsian]] bites down on its neck, [[CameraAbuse spurting blood on the camera]]. However, the gorgonopsian's jaw structure means that he can only shear off one piece of meat, leaving an enormous pool of blood. What's left of the lystrosaur is scavenged by the protomammal ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Thrinaxodon]]''. As for the hadrosaur, it is attacked by two ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' who fail to actually kill it. They are chased away by a ''TyrannosaurusRex'', who slits the hadrosaur's throat and eats its foot.* FeatheredFiend: A scantily feathered ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Velociraptor]]'' (with the model also used for ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Dromaeosaurus]]'') and naked ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' (with the model also used for ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Byronosaurus]]'').* ForegoneConclusion: Some of the episodes try to add a sense of suspense by emphasizing how all life on Earth hangs precariously in the balance after a mass extinction... of course, the viewer is well aware that things eventually worked out, given how Earth is flourishing quite nicely.* FromBadToWorse: Repeatedly at the end of the Permian and Cretaceous.* GiantFlyer: The ever-popular ''[[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Quetzalcoatlus]]''.* {{Gorn}}: Mostly averted. This is a noticeably less gory documentary than ''Series/JurassicFightClub'' and ''Series/MonstersResurrected''. However, it's played straight in "The Great Dying", when a [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles gorgonopsian]] rather brutally kills and eats a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]''.* GrandFinale: [[spoiler: Mankind nearly goes extinct]] in the last episode.* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted:** Before the Ordovician extinction, the [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures eurypterids]] are easy prey for the straight nautiloids. During the extinction, the latter becomes smaller, turning the tables.** In the grip of the Great Dying, the wolf-like [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles gorgonopsians]], the top predators before the extinction, are easy prey for the aquatic ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Proterosuchus]]''.* MegaNeko: The [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals cave lion]]. The "Sumatran leopard" and the pumas may qualify.* MisplacedWildlife: ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]'' in Kansas. It's never been found in the Americas.** ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifePrimitiveSaurischians Staurikosaurus]]'' in North America. It never made it outside South America.** ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Eudimorphodon]]'' and ''Megazostrodon'', on a related note. ''Eudimorphodon'' only lived in Europe and ''Megazostrodon'' only lived in South Africa.** ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Elasmotherium]]'' in the jungles of Sumatra. It lived on the tundra of Asia and Europe.** [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Giant leopards]] are not known from Sumatra.* OutrunTheFireball: Episodes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, with implied [[OutrunTheFireball Outrun the Fireballs]] in episodes 2 (or is it Outswim the Fireball?) and 8.* PantheraAwesome: The [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals cave lions]], pumas and "Sumatran leopard".* PrehistoricMonster: Not the worst case, but not a realistic portrayal either.* PteroSoarer: ''Almost'' avoided with their ''[[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Quetzalcoatlus]]''. They flap their wing membranes a bit too fast. ''So close!''** Their ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Eudimorphodon]]'' nearly made the cut, too. In one scene, however, it's shown to be bipedal. ''Damn!!''* RaptorAttack: A half-arsed ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Velociraptor]]'' with the wrong skull shape and a pair of naked ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' that take down a subadult [[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs hadrosaur]].** Cameos by ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Dromaeosaurus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Byronosaurus]]'' aren't any better.* RocksFallEveryoneDies: The extinctions all qualify, with the most literal examples ever at the end of the Cretaceous [[spoiler:and the hypothetical future]].* RodentsOfUnusualSize: In "The Next Extinction", after humanity hides underground to survive an asteroid strike, in cities, rats grow to the size of dogs.* RuleOfCool: Several less cool and more plausible theories are abandoned in favor of cooler, less likely ones. This is especially noticeable in the Ordovician episode.** The show definitely has a bias for showing the bigger and more odd looking animals, range and chronology be damned.* SeaMonster: [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Straight nautiloids, eurypterids, ''Dunkleosteus]]'' and [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs mosasaurs]].* SeldomSeenSpecies: A healthy variety. ''Astraspis'', straight-shelled nautiloids, eurypterids, ''Tiktaalik'', ''Materpiscis'', ''Bothriolepis'', ''Purgatorius'', gorgonopsians, ''Thrinaxodon'', ''Proterosuchus'', ''Eudimorphodon'', ''Rutiodon'', ''Desmatosuchus'', ''Staurikosaurus'', ''Megazostrodon'', and ''Stegodon''.* ShownTheirWork: All of the talking heads. Hey, they even got Mathew Wedel (and unlike in ''[[Series/ClashOfTheDinosaurs another show]]'', he wasn't {{quote mine}}d!).* SmallTaxonomyPools: Gorgeously averted. ''Astraspis''? ''Materpiscis''? ''Proterosuchus''? ''Desmatosuchus''? ''Purgatorius''? ''Stegodon''? What shows have ''these''?* SpeculativeDocumentary* StockDinosaurs: Not that many, compared to the rest of the cast. Among the great stock dinosaurs, there's ''Triceratops'', ''Tyrannosaurus'', ''Velociraptor,'' and the woolly mammoth. Among the semi-stock dinosaurs, there's hadrosaurs. Among the rare stock dinosaurs, there's mosasaurs.* StockSoundEffect: One roar is used for the ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Triceratops, Velociraptor]]'', ''[[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Quetzalcoatlus]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Dicynodon]]'', and ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Elasmotherium]]''.* TyrannosaurusRex: And its Asian relative ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Tarbosaurus]]''.